


The Steps

by CallMeMilady (fairegirl22)



Series: Love Jumps into the Mouth of a Dinosaur [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrientte in the background as always, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, I mean they're all the same ship but you know what I mean, This one is mainly Ladrien, a little bit of Ladynoir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 02:16:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16254638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairegirl22/pseuds/CallMeMilady
Summary: Adrien implements the steps of the plan he and Marinette came up with to get Ladybug to date him.





	The Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Special Thanks to Izzi456 for making sure I don't look stupid for changing the tenses randomly. And thank you for everyone who left a comment that helped motivate me.
> 
> This series isn't told in order, the timeline goes like this:
> 
> 1\. The First Meeting (Part 1)  
> 2\. The Playdate (Part 2)  
> 3\. The Review (Part 6)  
> 4\. The First Kiss (Part 3)  
> 5\. The Heartbreak (Part 4)  
> 6\. The Dinosaur (Part 5)  
> 7\. The Plan (Part 7)  
> 8\. The Steps (Part 9)  
> 9\. The Sweethearts (Part 8)

Adrien, like basically every other citizen, adores Ladybug. Except he’s not like everyone else, because he’s Chat Noir. So he gets to see this amazing girl do insane things and come up with plans that somehow work in a way that he could never understand.

With the help of Marinette, he’s got a plan to date Ladybug. His first plan, that Marinette doesn’t know about, was to try to date her as Chat Noir...but no matter what he tries she doesn’t want to date Chat.

After building up the nerve to ask her out throughout the entire Akuma battle, Chat finally asked her out after they defeated the akuma.

“Chat, we can’t date. We’re superheros.” Ladybug said gently like she was walking on eggshells that were on the verge of breaking like his heart was.

“I don’t think us being superheros prevents us from dating.” Chat Noir pointed out as his miraculous beeped losing its second claw.

Ladybug shook her head, “We can date, but we can’t date each other.” Her miraculous beeped losing its second spot.

“Why not?” Chat Noir’s ears drooped slightly.

Ladybug turned away from him and looked out to the horizon of Paris in the afternoon glow. He gave Paris a glance but continued to look at her.

“We have a responsibility, Chat. It’s the same reason why we have to keep our identities a secret, even from each other. We have to protect Paris and we can’t do that if we’re compromised.” She said in a heavy tone that only he would understand. The weight of being a savior of Paris is only something they can understand. It’s the accumulation of the secret they keep and the job they have to do at a moment’s notice to keep Paris safe.

Chat Noir let out a slow sigh, full of understanding and frustration. “I really like you, bugaboo.”

His miraculous beeped again, the third claw gone.

Ladybug looked at him with a small blush and a bashful smile. “Thank you.” She squeaked. Her eyes widened and she spun on her heel away from him. Another beep rang from her miraculous.

Chat couldn’t keep the smile off his face, even if he wanted to. “Bugaboo,” he said teasingly as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Ladybug looked over her shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Sorry that she didn’t return his feelings. Sorry that even if she did that they couldn’t date. He could hear what she meant in her words when she didn’t explain further.

“It’s okay,” Chat said.

Ladybug looked at him with relief as his miraculous beeped again. “We’re about to detransform Chat, we really need to go. I’ll see you later!” She hopped off the rooftop they were on and swung to the next. Before she moved any further she waved at him. He waved back and watched her as she then ran along the roof to hop to the next building over, going off to find someplace safe to detransform.

So his first plan with Ladybug didn’t pan out...but maybe his second one would, even if he didn’t think he was going to implement it.

Marinette came over a day after Ladybug rejected him (as Chat) and she helped him (as Adrien) to come up with a plan to win Ladybug’s heart. He had to keep his secret identity so he silently made a few adjustments as they talked.

**Step 1. Talk to Ladybug and introduce yourself.**

During the strategy session, Marinette came up with schemes that involved the LadyBlog or had him wait (safely) after an akuma attack to talk to Ladybug. His (joking) idea of turning into an akuma just to talk to Ladybug was quickly and sternly shot down.

In the end, the first time Adrien met Ladybug was during an akuma attack at school. He was just getting out of the locker room from his fencing practice and saw people running away from a bunch of paper airplanes swarming around. They ran to the closest door and the planes lost their targets. Until the paper airplanes turned the point of their noses at him and were flying towards him at an alarming speed. He looked around but was cornered by the lockers because he noticed the chaos too late to turn back into the locker room to turn into Chat Noir.

Suddenly a red blur swung down and stood in front of him, spinning her yo-yo around like a shield for the planes to fly into and dissolve.

“Ladybug,” Adrien said with relief and a bit of awe.

She looked over him critically. “Are you okay?” 

Adrien nodded. “Not a scratch on me. Thank you.”

Ladybug smiled as she motioned for him to walk next to her. He followed by her side, being shielded from any more incoming paper airplanes, until Ladybug walked him back to the locker room door.

“You should be safe in here,” she said.   
  
“My name’s Adrien Agreste,” Adrien blurted out at her when he saw that she was about to leave. Of course she had to leave, he should too so he could help her fight the akuma, but the opportunity presented itself for the first step of the plan.

“I know,” Ladybug said before her eyes widened slightly. “I mean, I’ve seen you modeling before. That’s how I know your name. Not that I really know you or anything.”

Adrien blushed. Ladybug has seen his modeling ads? Ladybug _knows_ him from his modeling ads. “Well, thank you again.”

“Stay safe M. Agreste, Chat Noir should be here soon and we’ll take care of the akuma,” she said as she closed the door.

He smiled, allowing himself to indulge at the moment he was so close to Ladybug while ignoring Plagg’s side comments. Then, he transformed into Chat Noir because his lady was waiting and he needed to help her. 

**Step 2. After talking to her a few times, ask Ladybug to hang out.**

This step was a bit difficult in a few ways; Marinette and Adrien discovered when they were trying to figure out how exactly he would be able to talk to her a few times and get her to hang out with him to see that he was more than a regular fan. It was difficult trying to figure out a plausible way for him to talk to her once, but getting Adrien to talk to Ladybug on more than one occasion was a bigger issue.

But just like with the first step, it seemed like fate wanted Ladybug to meet Adrien on a few occasions...saving him during akuma attacks. It wasn’t like it was planned, but a lot of the times an akuma attack started near to him and sometimes he just couldn’t find a place to transform fast enough.

The second time Ladybug saved him was when an akuma was trapping everyone into giant top-hats. She pulled him out of the way just in time so that he wasn’t hit.

The third time was when an akuma was turning people into tiny dolls and putting them into a doll house. She pulled him away from getting hit that time, too.

The fifth time was with an akuma that created small tornados, wreaking havoc on all of Paris. She stopped a car from crushing him.

The seventh time was with an akuma that was targeting him specifically, so ladybug took him to the Eiffel Tower. And when they got there she looked exasperated by him.

“Do you always plan on getting into trouble?” Ladybug pursed her lips. “Why do I have to save you so many times recently, M. Agreste?”

Adrien scrunched his nose, “Please call me Adrien, Ladybug. M. Agreste is my father.”

“Okay, Adrien.” She sternly pointed her finger at him. “Stop getting into trouble. You’re almost as bad as Chloe!”

Adrien looked affronted. “I am not as bad as Chloe. I just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he protested.

Ladybug sighed. “Just try to stay out of trouble okay? Stay here, Chat Noir and I will keep the akuma away.” She mumbled underneath her breath, “When that kitty shows up that is.”

“Wait!” Adrien said as Ladybug was on the railing, about to jump off and away.

She turned to look back at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Would you like to come by my house for ice cream tonight?” he asked with a slightly nervous tone.

Ladybug shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

“I just want to thank you,” Adrien said. “For all the times you saved me...and Paris.”

“I don’t save Paris alone. Chat Noir is a big help as well,” Ladybug said.

Adrien paused, he didn’t think about having to thank Chat Noir. That complicates his plan a little bit. “Of course, how about the both of you come to the gazebo in my backyard tonight at 8pm and I’ll have an ice cream sundae bar set up. To thank you both for your hard work.”

Ladybug smiled. “I guess it’ll be okay. I’ll tell Chat Noir. See you later Adrien.” She leapt to confront the akuma.

When she mentioned to Chat after the fight, he told her to pass on his apologizes to Adrien because he had other plans.

**Step 3. Flirt with Ladybug.**

This step was going to be a little difficult for Adrien because he already used all of his best moves on her as Chat, and he can’t say or act the same way otherwise she’ll know that he’s Chat. Marinette coached him with suggestions on how to flirt with Ladybug, so at least he’ll have some new material that Chat hasn’t used.

When 8pm finally arrived Adrien was sitting in the gazebo fixing the twinkle lights he got a few years ago. When he turned, he saw Ladybug standing on the gazebo steps with an odd look in her eye as she examined the decor.

Adrien chewed on his lower lip with nervousness. What if she hated it? Was it too much to decorate the gazebo with lights and bring out a new table cloth for the table? Or maybe he had too little options for an ice cream sundae bar, and he didn’t have her favorite topping. _He forgot to ask._

“Hi.” Ladybug smiled at him.

“Ladybug, welcome!” Adrien said a little too loudly. Inside he was dying a little because that was _the worst_ way to start this date. Not that it was a date-date, but hopefully could lead to one.

“This looks nice,” She waved towards the decor as she walked up the steps to meet him.

Adrien sighed in relief. “Thank you, mi- Miss Ladybug.”

Ladybug giggled. “Miss Ladybug? I don’t think anyone has called me that.”

Adrien bowed in an exaggerated manner, maybe acting a little bit too much like Chat but she liked her banter with her superhero partner. He should dial it back a little though, practice his flirting as Adrien. “You are looking beautiful tonight, Ladybug.”

Ladybug blushed as he took her hand to kiss it. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself, Mister Agreste.”

Immediately Adrien scrunched up his nose and so did Ladybug. “Please don’t call me that. It makes me sound like my dad.”

“Yeah, that was a bad call.” Ladybug shook her head.

“Let me show you what we’ve got here.” Adrien waved his hand over the ice cream bar, pointing out the _already labeled_ ice cream and toppings. He was just too nervous to stop talking even though he knew Ladybug was smart enough to look at the ice cream bar spread.

He cleared his throat. “So what can I get for you Mi-Miss Ladybug?” He caught himself for the second time almost calling her Chat’s nickname for her.

“I like mint chocolate chip with extra chocolate chips, gummy bears, and M&Ms,” she said while reaching for the bowl to serve herself.

“No, I can do that for you!” Adrien smiled. “Wow that’s exactly the same thing my friend Marinette likes.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow. She must be a smart girl then because that combination makes for the best ice cream ever.”

Adrien busied himself preparing her ice cream bowl. “She’s not as smart as you, Ladybug. I’m sure no one is.”

She pursed her lips slightly. “I’m not that smart Adrien.”

He looked in her eyes as he earnestly said, “Sure you are, Miss Ladybug. I don’t think that there’s anybody in the entire world who’s as smart, kind, amazing, and cute as you are.”

Ladybug blushed as her gaze was still locked with his. “That’s very kind of you to say, Adrien.”

Adrien handed her the bowl, and felt tingles go down his spine when his fingers touched her gloved hand. One day, he’ll be able to feel her hand without her suit on. One day, he’ll know who the girl who stole his heart is underneath the mask.

“So, I know you have a secret identity and all,” Adrien said as he started on his own ice cream bowl, “but am I allowed to ask you what your favorite color is? Or if you have any hobbies?”

“Those questions are fine, I just can’t anything about my identity.”

“Okay, so what’s your favorite color?” Adrien looked up at her. “Mine is blue, the shade of your eyes.”

Ladybug bit her lip with a smile. “Is that right?”

“And one of my favorite hobbies is to think of ways that I could treat you like a princess,” Adrien said. He kept his voice light and joking, so she wouldn’t think that he was pushing her too much.

There was a beat of silence and Adrien held his breath waiting for Ladybug’s reaction. Another beat passed before she burst out into giggles and he quietly breathed out.

“Was that bad?” Adrien started to laugh with her. He set his bowl down on the small table and pulled out her seat for her.

“No.” Ladybug shook her head with the last of the laughter subsiding, smiling at him as she sat down. “Thank you. And I mean yes, it was bad. But no, it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever heard.”

She conspicuously leaned in with a mischievous grin in her eye. “Some of Chat Noir’s puns are really bad.”

Adrien immediately protests before he could think better of it, “They’re not that bad!” Ladybug tilts her head in slight confusion and Adrien races to fix his mistake. “I mean, I’m sure they can’t be that bad. He’s Chat Noir.”

Ladybug slowly nods. “I wasn’t aware you two know each other.”

Adrien gives himself some time by eating a big scoop of ice cream. Too big because it takes him a few seconds to swallow it and by then he has a brain freeze. “Ack, brain freeze,” he says, cringing a little bit but also glad to change the subject.

“I heard that if you press your thumb to the roof of your mouth that it’ll help it pass by faster,” she tells him.

He shakes his head. “No I’m fine. I wouldn’t want to look silly in front of you.”

“Why would you worry about looking silly? In front of me?” Ladybug asks it like she doesn’t understand that he’s been trying to flirt with her all night. Maybe he wasn’t clear enough, maybe he should just ask her. Time for the next step.

**Step 4: Ask her on a date.**

Adrien blushes and shifts his glaze down as he stirs his ice cream around. “I want you to like me, Miss Ladybug.”

“I like you,” she says automatically, reaching out to place her hand on his hand on top of the table.

He gently turns his hand so he could hold hers as he looked into her eyes. She needs to know he’s serious. She needs to know how he feels. “I mean I _like_ you Ladybug. I want to take you on a date.”

Her mouth is agape as he uses his thumb to caress the back of her hand. Adrien’s heart was beating 10 times faster than usual and he was holding his breath, hoping that she wouldn’t reject him a second time.

“Oh,” she said softly leaning into his hand. “Okay.”

Adrien’s smile slowly grew as her reply sunk in. “Really?” Was he imagining all of this, was he dreaming?

Ladybug grinned at his excitement. “No, this is real Adrien. I promise you that.” He must’ve asked his questions out loud.

“Hm,” Adrien mock pondered as leaned forward over the table, ignoring the melting ice cream bowls that was on the table. “I wonder what could be done to prove that I’m not dreaming.”

“Hm indeed,” Ladybug said blithely leaning over slightly but still out of reach.

Adrien gave her an exaggerated pout. “You’re too far away.”

Eyes sparkling, Ladybug replied. “Am I? Too far away for what?” Despite her teasing she did lean forward, enough that she was close enough that he could see the freckles on her nose.

“Can I kiss you?” Adrien said breathlessly because his dream girl was in front of him and took all of his breath away.

Ladybug smiled, “You may.”

So he quickly closes the small gap between them and kisses her. It feels so nice, not like how his first kiss with Marinette went. It feels a lot more meaningful than that and her lips are so soft.

When he pulls away, they’re both smiling. “Ice cream is melting,” Ladybug pointed out.

“That’s a shame, I’m glad there’s more though. Enough for desert following a real first date,” Adrien said.

“Same time, next week?” Ladybug asked.

Adrien leaned forward again to steal another kiss, “Anytime you can give me, Miss Ladybug.”

He couldn’t believe his luck. He couldn’t believe that the plan worked. Now he gets to move on to the most important part of the plan that he’s been looking forward to.

**Step 5. Go on many dates with Ladybug and live happily ever after.**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm aliveee, I'm sorry for not posting in so long. But sometimes life gets in the way and motivation shifts. I'm trying to get back on track to continue this story, but I'm on my last semester at college and I'm actually procrastinating by posting this soooo I might be updating a little more frequently as a break from school stuff...or at least will be writing more frequently then posting. tbh it's mostly the struggle of actually writing than not knowing what to write because I've got the overall roadmap plotted out.
> 
> I'm sorry for not responding to all the comments, I promise I read them all and I love every single comment I get. (Shoutout to Sar who left a comment on the last installment and got me to finish up this piece and post it)


End file.
